Worn Leather and Cinnamon
by mandy.luzader
Summary: After the fire that destroyed her life and her home, Sage moves to Forks, Washington. Why can't a certain major stay away from her?
1. New Town

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I make no money, I'm just having fun in Stephenie Meyers world.

The first 18 years of my life had revolved around 2 things, horses and history. I had grown up on my family's ranch in Fort Worth, Texas. My father traveled the country training horses for everything from racing to competitions and anything in between so he wasn't around much. It never bothered me though I always had the ranch and the rest of my family. My mother's side of the family owned the ranch and had for generations, supposedly we had owned the land since the late 1700's. She and I were fairly close but we were both awkward horse crazy women whose idea of quality time included long _silent_ trail rides. Everything was great for the longest time, I was homeschooled so I could help out with the animals so my days were spent under the sun and typically in the saddle. Silver Creek Ranch was my one love and my life.

On the rare occasion I wasn't working with our horses, I was researching the history that seeped the area. It was fascinating to me how little the land had changed over the centuries. In its own way Silver Creek had helped influence history. Our ranch had supplied horses during the Civil War, sheltered people during famine, been a stop on the underground railroad, and those were just some of the major events. In the library we even had old photographs and records.

Then July 10th happened. It was a scorching hot day, record breaking even for the Texas heat. I was riding out to check on the horses in the far fields, they needed to be brought in so we could make sure they stayed cool enough. A few of our mares were close to giving birth, I was especially concerned about them getting over heated. I hadn't even made it halfway when I heard the screaming of a panicked herd. My ride for the day was a young mare, recently trained to carry a rider and when the fearful trumpets reached her she easily threw me. I was an experienced rider but there was nothing I could have done. I flew through the air as she bolted and left me behind in the field.

I must have hit my head or something because what happened after that is fuzzy. The next thing I remember is running towards my house, weaving through the fleeing animals. Everything was on fire. I couldn't think, the heat barely registered even as I ran through my blazing home. I wasn't sure if my voice wasn't working from the smoke or if it had just gotten hoarse from screaming for my mother, for anybody really. Firefighters arrived and managed to pull me out of the house even as I fought to go back inside. I remember being loaded into an ambulance and hearing my mother screaming my name then I suppose I passed out again. I woke up in the hospital sometime later with my mother sitting at my bedside holding my hand. I had a concussion, broken nose and ribs, damage from smoke inhalation, and let's not even get started on the burns.

We had lost everything, Silver Creek was gone. Most of the horses had died or escaped, those that had been found were sold to ranches and stables in the area. Grandma Iris was gone and Grandpa went a week later from a heart attack. The house and stables had burned to the ground and I guess Mom didn't have the heart to start over so we sold most of the land too. All that remained was what had been inside the safes we had in the office and library. My father filed for divorce when he found out the ranch was gone and he wouldn't be running it one day. Apparently he had started another family in Kentucky with some woman named Tasha while he was off 'training horses'.

Heartbroken in every way imaginable my mother reached out to her brother, my uncle Charlie. He was the police chief in a small town in Washington. That brings us to today, mom had finalized the paperwork on our new home in the same neighborhood as uncle Charlie's house last week and today was the big move.

I pulled the headphones from my ears as mom steered the Uhaul moving van into the driveway of a decent sized two story house. It was nice enough I suppose but I missed the warm wooden look of our old home. This house was a white with dark shingles covering the layered roof. A covered porch wrapped around the front and right side of the house with a few steps leading up to the porch from a paved walkway that lead off from the winding gravel driveway we were currently driving through. There was maybe 30 or 40 feet of grass before the woods started behind the house.

There was nothing wrong with the house but it wasn't home. There wasn't any open space, I couldn't feel the sun on my skin. Everything was so _green._ I almost felt claustrophobic being surrounded by so many trees after living on the open plains for so long. I was thrown out of my thoughts of displeasure by Charlie's voice.

"Claire! You girls finally made it. How was the drive?"

"Long and my ass is asleep! Now get over here and give your little sister a hug!" My mother replied joyfully as she jumped out of our rented van, the gravel crunching under her weight. She ran straight into his arms causing me to smile to myself. Uncle Charlie had always been my favorite, maybe it was our personalities being so similar but we had always gotten along great. He and my mother, Claire, had a special relationship as well. After Renee had broken his heart and left with their daughter, my mother had gone and stayed with him for nearly a month getting him back in shape.

"Uncle Charlie!" I shrieked happily and got a running start on jumping onto him and mother.

"Sage! Baby you're getting a little too big for this!" My mother laughed even as she pulled me into their hug.

"Too big? What in the world do you mean? Do you even eat kiddo?" Uncle Charlie joked, jabbing me in the ribs playfully. I only pouted in response, turning my nose up to him and turning to grab some of my bags to take inside.

The movers had already taken all of our big things and arranged them as mom had asked. This would be my first time actually being in the new house though, mom had shown me photos and asked my opinion on a few things but I had let her take the project on. Busy hands heal a broken heart grandma had always said. Mom and I both seemed to stand by that. She had thrown herself into the move while I had busied myself with school work. 'Sucks that I still have to redo my senior year…' I thought to myself. Some credits didn't transfer properly from the homeschool program so I had to sit through an entire year of Forks High School.

I stepped into the new house and set my bag down next to the staircase to look around while mom and Charlie dealt with some of our porch furniture. The stairs to the second floor were directly in front of you when you stepped into the house. The first floor seemed to have a pretty open design, to the left was the kitchen. Like the rest of the first floor it had hardwood flooring. It was a simple kitchen which worked well for me and mom, neither of us could cook very well. Happily I noted that there was a dishwasher next to the oven.

"Maybe this place won't be so bad after all" I muttered, running my hand along the handle on the dishwasher as I continued my tour. Walking around the island in the middle of our kitchen I went on to our living room. My first thought was it was huge. The living room literally took up the entire width of the house. A large sliding glass door took up a decent portion of the wall, leading out to the back part of the partial wrap around porch and to the back yard. Two comfortable plush looking couches sat facing the entertainment stand. A recliner sat closer to the glass doors, angled so you could look outside without a glare in your eyes. A large rectangular rug sat in front of the furniture, it was dark blue in color complementing nicely with the dark couches.

The last part of the lower floor was set up like an office with book shelves running the entire length of the wall. A simple wooden desk sat in the middle of the room that would eventually hold a computer and any paperwork that needed done. After completing the circle I returned to my abandoned bag and carried it upstairs. My room was the door immediately to the left at the top of the stairs. Then there was a bathroom and hall closet. The last door upstairs was my mom's room, complete with her own connected bathroom. The lucky woman, but she won that room fair after an intensive round of rock, paper, scissors.

Inside my room sat a dark 4 poster bed, my mattress already in place and covered by a comforter with beige and brown geometric designs. Matching pillow cases covered all 5 pillows, I insisted on having all of the pillows. It was aesthetically pleasing and most importantly beyond comfortable. The closet was small but more than large enough for my needs considering I also had a dresser next to it. I had windows facing the woods to the left of the house and facing the backyard. Dark brown curtains covered the windows and a beige rug covered the floor. To sum it all up, I loved it.

"Mom! I love how you set up my room!" I yelled down the stairs as I slowly walked back outside to help with the van full of our things. Much to my chagrin, her and Charlie had finished while I was on my leisurely tour.

"So when do I get to meet my cousin?" I asked Charlie. His daughter Bella had moved in with him about a week ago, I had known about her my entire life but with her living here and in Arizona with her mother and me living in Texas we had never actually met. I knew she was just under 2 years younger than me but that was about it.

"Well, she should be getting out of school any minute now. I told her to come over, so as long as she doesn't get lost Bella will be here." He said with a shrug as he brought a beer to his mouth. Mom and him had made themselves comfortable with a 6 pack sitting between them on the porch. I settled myself into the swinging chair in the corner of the porch not too far from my mother.

"She's a junior right? At Forks High where I'll be going?" I asked curiously. I was irritated that I was going to be 18 soon to be 19 in my senior year, but kind of knowing someone else would be nice. I was excited but I was also nervous to be honest, I had never gone to a traditional school.

"Yeah, she's in her junior year. She seems to be doing well with the new school. Even made some friends already it seems"

Things fell into a comfortable silence after that and I decided to migrate back to my room to give them some space to catch up. I distracted myself with setting up my books how I wanted them. Most of them went downstairs in the office-library space with bookshelves, but I had a small bookshelf in my room for my favorites or whatever books I wanted to cycle through. It was only about 3 shelves high and maybe 2 feet long, but it was perfect for my needs. I decided after sorting through my collection that I wanted some of my civil war books in my room along with my favorite books. Most of them were educational books, encyclopedias, history books, and the like. I also had some classics like a collection of Edgar A. Poe's works, a few teen fantasy series, really anything that caught my interest. After my books were in order I started on my music collection I had started to work on after the fire. I almost had everything again but it would be a work in progress for a long time.

Finally my bedroom was in order and exactly how I wanted it. Looking out the window I realized I had taken longer than I intended to, the sun was sinking down past the treeline. Wandering back downstairs I thought I would check on mom and Charlie. Walking back out the front door I saw them both laughing happily to something I had missed. Sitting in the swing I had been in earlier was a girl. She seemed taller than me with long dark hair that fell in waves down her shoulders. She had a small smile on her face as she watched our parents, her dark brown eyes sparkling in merriment with her thin shoulders shaking slightly as she held back a laugh.

"What'd I miss guys?" I said with a smile on my face, amused by the way everyone's eyes jerked to me.

"I was just telling Bella here a little bit about her big cousin! Remember the carrot incident?" My mom laughed as she wiped away a tear.

My jaw snapped open, childhood stories were NOT on the list of ways I'd like to make a first impression. The carrot incident being my mother's favorite to tell. I had been 8 or 9 and thought since we gave our horses carrots that was what I should be snacking on. So I had grabbed a big bag of freshly washed carrots and brought them along to my Balto movie marathon. Next thing I knew I had eaten 3 and a half pounds of carrots and had to go to the hospital. I had literally overdosed on carrots and my mother found it hilarious.

"It's really not that funny!" I complained, which only served to make her and Charlie laugh more. "Bella do you want to come inside away from these two and grab a bite or something?" I invited my cousin, partially just to escape the horrors my mother could unleash and partially to get to know her.

She nodded her head in consent and we withdrew into the house to settle down at the kitchen island. We had a few moments of awkward back and forth before we found a common interest to break the ice. Amazingly enough we were both Supernatural fans and she loved a lot of the classic literature that I did. Books were an amazing ice breaker in my opinion.

"So, you've survived a week of Forks High School huh? What's it like Bells?" I finally broached the topic that was on my mind.

"It's been good. I guess. Everyone's friendly enough but being new is apparently a hot commodity around here. They tried to make a feature about me in the school paper before I convinced them not to. The only thing that was kinda weird was this boy, he spent the day glaring at my like I had killed his dog or something then just disappears. Didn't come to school at all!" She complained, this guy had obviously been bothering her for a few days. We were just getting to know each other but I could tell that Bella wasn't the type to open up about things like this so quickly.

"Sounds like an asshole." I dead panned, not sure what else to say about it. We chatted a bit more about random topics before Charlie came in telling Bella it was time to head home. I guess he was playing the responsible adult role since my mother was still giggling in the recliner. I was happy though, she hadn't smiled this much since the fiasco with my father.

"Remember, school tomorrow Sage. Don't forget to pick up your papers from the front office" Charlie said as he and Bella escaped the house. Once they had left I told my mom good night and headed to bed myself, it was early for me but after everything that happened today I was tired. I set the alarm on my night stand for 6am so I would have plenty of time to get to school.

It seemed like I had just closed my eyes a moment ago when the dreaded alarm went off signaling I had to wake up. After a vicious fight with the snooze button I finally rolled myself out of the warmth of my bed and into the shower. I enjoyed my calming sandalwood scented products even as I rushed through my morning routine. I had already picked my outfit the night before knowing I would snooze far too long in the morning. I went to my full length mirror and studied my reflection after getting dressed and finishing my hair.

A short girl with sun kissed skin stared back at me, her green eyes slightly exaggerated by eye-liner. Shaggy straightened black hair fell to just barely touch her shoulders with the front framing an angular face. Light blue faded skinny jeans were tucked into brown leather boots that covered her legs from the knee-cap down. A white, well fitted tank top laid beneath a brown short jacket that hung just to the bottom of her rib cage. A dark knitted scarf was folded neatly around her neck, hiding her sharp collar bones and most of her chest from view. Though to be completely honest the scarf would come off in an instant to protect her hair from any rain.

After turning this way and that I decided I was satisfied with my appearance. Grabbing my plain black messenger bag, I darted down the stairs to grab some toast before heading to school. Luckily my mom was on the ball, a to go cup of coffee and toast all ready to go. She was still in her checkered pajamas humming to herself in the kitchen as I flew through the kitchen.

"Where's my keys mom?" I asked when I realized I didn't have them. My old car had been damaged in the fire so I had gotten a new Jeep. I referred to it as a happy upgrade. She tossed the keys to me as I walked out the door. Sitting proudly in the driveway was my gleaming charcoal grey 2008 two-door Jeep Wrangler. I had the top on it today, being in Forks you never knew when it was going to rain. It was a short drive to the school, it was less than 10 miles away from our new home.

I easily spotted Bella's orange monstrosity when I pulled into the school lot, unfortunately there weren't any open spots near it. Bella waved sympathetically as she saw me circling the parking lot searching for an open place. Near the back corner of the lot I saw a few vehicles that stood out from the rest. Not to sound judgemental but it was like this was the rich kids area to park. Luckily for me, there was an open spot right between some Volvo and another Jeep. Unfortunately for me, right when I pulled into the space and parked I swung my door open just as a blonde boy was jumping out of the other jeep. To my utter mortification, my door smacked him. I just sat there mouth gaping like an idiot too! I couldn't even get my brain to function enough for an apology. Strangely, a wave of calm spread over me just when I thought I had hit the peak of my embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I uh… didn't see ya there" I finally managed to drawl, my accent coming out stronger than usual.

The blonde man just continued to smirk before he replied in a smooth southern accent of his own "Not to worry ma'am, no harm done" tipping his head before moving on.

It took a few moments for my brain to kickstart before I got out of my car. The blonde boy and the rest of his friends, or maybe they were family, had long since left. I walked towards the school and Bella caught up with me.

"What was that?" She asked me, seeming more interested than I thought.

"I accidently hit the blonde one with my door… It was an accident though! I just kind of froze afterwards which made it even more awkward than it already was." I explained to my cousin. My mind still kind of stuck on the unknown man's jawline and gentle accent.

"Those were the Cullens! The one I was telling you about, they're his family. The blonde boy is Jasper. Everyone says he's intimidating, but I think he's just quieter than the others." Bella muttered to herself mostly.

"So his name is Jasper…"


	2. What's Happening?

Usual disclaimer stuff, Don't own anything besides my unique plot and original characters. On a side note THANK YOU GUYS! Not to sound review hungry but it really made me happy to hear that you guys enjoy my story :) Shout out to Tanner, Renaissance, and whomever the guest reviewer was. Anyway fun note; I never actually had a senior year in high school (or a junior year) so I'm winging it on what classes a senior would have. Not to mention I haven't been in high school for nearly 6 years, so cut me a break on that. On to the story!

 _'So his name is Jasper….'_

My embarrassment in the parking lot was quickly pushed to the back of my mind as Bella dragged me into the intimidating building before us. Apparently all new students were supposed to get a paper to be filled out by their teachers so I had to go to the fishbowl called a main office. Glass panels made up two of the four walls giving everyone a chance to see inside the room. Inside a portly woman was sitting behind a desk typing away at a computer. She met nearly every stereotype for a secretary there was, right down to her glasses sitting too far down her nose.

"Hello ma'am? My name is Sage Rowan and I need to pick up my schedule." I requested as I walked into the office, waving bye to Bella who had been kidnapped by a lean asian boy.

"Ah, yes dear. Here is your schedule, since you're starting into the school year we put you into Study Hall as your elective. We saw you had been taking French with your home electives, however we do not offer anything beyond French II. Aside from that you have a fairly normal schedule." She explained easily, handing me a sheet of paper with my classes printed on it along with another showing a map of the school. "Also, you will need to carry this paper with you to all your classes. Have your teachers sign it and simply return it at the end of the day. As for text books, your teachers should have what you need in the classrooms." with one more paper, I nodded and thanked her before leaving the office to attempt to navigate the school.

Luckily my classes weren't too difficult, most of them I had taken before. Quickly reading over the list in my hands. I already assumed that I wouldn't share any classes with Bella, most of mine were AP or Honors senior courses aside from Study Hall. My first class was AP History in building C, room 07. Great that sounded fairly simple I thought optimistically, setting off with determination towards my first class that doubled as my homeroom.

Though of course it wasn't as simple as I had hoped. I had managed to find my way to the back exit of the main building that lead to all the other buildings, but once I got outside the paths to the various buildings weren't labeled and they all seemed to twist and turn needlessly.

My irritation was growing as I wandered around looking for building C, I was pretty certain that it didn't really exist. Building A, B, E, and F were all sitting around, but there was no fucking building C. Just as my temper was about to get the best of me, I saw a boy walking in my direction.

He was attractive enough I suppose with perfectly styled light brown hair that looked like he tried too hard to make it look like he had just woken up and ran a hand through it. He looked lean and like everyone else was taller than I was. His eyes were a strange honey brown, perhaps even closer to a tawny. Startlingly enough I realized they looked similar to the boy from this morning's eyes, Jasper.

"Hey! Guy! Can you help me?" I yelled as I ran up to him without thinking about how strange I could look, dashing up to a stranger.

"Yes? What do you need?" he replied looking warily at me. I guess people get a little thrown off when someone runs at them.

"Building C, can you please show me where it is? I'm so late and I've been looking forever, and come to think of it why aren't you in class? If I'm out here and late so are you? Or maybe I'm not late, maybe everyone else just got to class quickly-" I rambled on before the guy cut me off.

"Woah, ok so building C is down that walkway, first building on the right. Yes you are late, and wouldn't it be better to get to class rather than discuss why I am late?" He chuckled while making a very valid point.

My eyes widened as I registered what he had just said and ran off with a shout of 'Thanks guy' down the path he had pointed to. Figures the building I was looking for would be the only path I hadn't already walked down. In my defense though, it was completely hidden behind A, which I learned while hunting down my classroom, held all the Arts and miscellaneous electives. I managed to make it into the classroom just as the last bell rang, since I was new the teacher didn't comment on the time. I handed over my note to be signed and was handed a textbook.

"Class this is Sage Rowan, she's new so be nice." the teacher, , according to my signed paper said in a dry voice. "Sage, you can take a seat next to Mandy. Mandy raise your hand please"

A nice enough looking girl with bright red hair and a plain white v-neck long-sleeved shirt raised her hand obediently. The desk next to her was empty, but the desk next to that sat a boy who's tan jacket looked suspiciously familiar. Not wanting to stand in the front of the room any longer I went to my new seat without a complaint, torn between looking at the boy and feigning disinterest. As I sat down, he turned to face the front of the room once more and I couldn't stop the blush that colored my face even if I tried.

There was no mistaking that jawline or those beautiful amber eyes. It was Jasper. He was leaning slightly in his seat, his tan jacket covering the arm that was bracing against the desk. A fitted plain black t-shirt covered his chest with dark washed jeans on his lower half, covering what looked like tan boots. His frame was tall and lean, but more muscular than the boy from earlier who I was convinced was related to Jasper somehow.

"Hey, Sage was it? Where did you come from?" Mandy interrupted my intent study of my other neighbor after a moment.

"Oh uhm hey, sorry I zoned out for a minute. I just moved up here from Texas, I'm Sage Rowan." I replied after shaking Jasper from my mind.

"Texas huh? What brings you so far north? I mean this is as polar opposite as it can get isn't it?" she asked kindly, seeming to be genuinely interested. To my left I noticed Jasper's head turning in our direction at my words. Was he interested in my story? Luckily I was saved from answering by the teacher bringing everyone's attention to the front of the classroom where he had written the topic of the day on the board. 'The American Civil War' was scrawled in chalky letters.

"Can anyone tell us when and where the first battle of the American Civil War was?" Mr. Salzman asked.

A few hands shot up in the air, but the teacher called on me. (please note my hand was NOT in the air) With a heavy sigh I answered "April 12, 1861. The Battle of Fort Sumter" I had watched enough movies about teenagers to know being too smart never made you friends.

"Good, Jasper! Was it a Union victory?" he barked out the next question.

"No sir, the Confederate army won that one." the gentleman beside me drawled in his accent that reminded me so much of home.

"Excellent! Christy, how long did the battle go on?" Salzman carried on like a drill sergeant.

"I-I don't know. We haven't started learning this yet Mr. S." a blonde cheerleader from the back corner of the classroom stammered out.

"Very well, 5 bonus points on our next test to anyone that knows the answer!" he skipped over the girl as she pouted.

"Two days" Jasper and I said at the same time. He turned to give me a half smile that brought that blush rushing back to my cheeks. "It would seem the lady knows her history" he muttered to me.

"Good! Good! Bonus points for Mr. Hale and Ms. Rowan, now then the civil war has been called-" Mr. Salzman carried on with his lesson. I had already learned the material between my home classes and my research about our land back home so I deemed it safe enough to zone out.

The rest of the lesson was spent mindlessly doodling in the margins of my notebook and wondering about the boy sitting next to me. What was his story? From his accent he clearly wasn't from here. What made him move here? Was he from Texas like myself? It sounded childish but it made me feel less homesick every time I heard his velvet voice with a soft southern drawl. My mother and Uncle Charlie both lacked the sound of the south, having been raised by their mother who had been from Michigan.

The bell rang, startling me from my musings as everyone got up to leave. I gathered my notebook and History book, kind of happy that I only had those two things to worry about so far. As Mandy struggled out the door I noticed she had 4 textbooks along with her notebooks. 'What does that girl have against backpacks?' crossed my mind before I looked at my list of classes for where to go next. It looked like I was heading to Study Hall which seemed pointless without any homework or anything to work on. Easily enough though it was just down the hall in C03.

I walked into the classroom and immediately noticed a change from the last one. The room was set up in tables, not individual desks. There was no teacher in the room yet, from the way the students were acting I half wondered if there was one at all. Amazingly enough in all the chaos I found the familiar face of my cousin sitting in the corner of the room trying and failing to read a book. I went straight for the open seat next to her and had never been more thankful that Study Hall wasn't a grade specific elective.

"Bella! I have never been so happy to see you! It's only second period and already my head is spinning! First, I got lost trying to find this stupid building! Then I couldn't pay attention in History because Jasper was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME! I'm pretty sure I scared his brother or cousin or something because I practically charged the boy I was so worked up over this ridiculous place. You know who designed this school? Cuz I need to give them a stern talkin to" I rambled on to Bella who looked torn between laughing and concerned.

"Jasper doesn't have a brother. Well not exactly. It's a bit complicated, I'm not positive that I understand it myself. Apparently Jasper and his sister Rosalie were adopted by and his wife. So were Edward, Alice, and Emmett, but Rosalie and Jasper are actually biological siblings. Edward is the one I told you about last night. Alice is the one that's in the back of the room, corner farthest from the window" She pointed to a slender girl with black hair styled in a pixie cut sitting alone at a table. "Emmett is a big guy, like easily 6"4 and built like a bear. Jasper you know, and then Rosalie is impossible to miss. Blonde and very supermodel looking, just looking at her will hurt your self-esteem." Bella continued to explain.

"Is Edward the one with light brown hair? Yellow-brown eyes?" I asked, wondering if he was the one I ran into this morning.

"Yeah actually. Do you think he's the one you ran into this morning?" she asked excitedly. I could already see the obsession building, not that I could judge when Jasper looked like an Adonis statue from ancient greece had been hit with a large shot of southern boy charm.

"I think so, kinda hard to tell since I don't really know who he is. He looked kind of similar to Jasper? If his only real sibling is Rosalie then I'm not sure why they would look alike. Ugh! I give up." I pouted, confused by the situation since I couldn't put any faces to the names. I turned to look to the back of the room, Alice seemed to be laughing at something. With nobody sitting around her I assumed it was a message on her phone that amused her so much. 'Thank god it's no noisy in here there's no way she could have heard us!' I thought with some slight embarrassment.

Soon enough that class was over too, then I had Chemistry over in building B05. Nothing too interesting in that class, once again it was a class I had already taken so I didn't pay much attention. I was distracted by the fact lunch was next, maybe eating nothing but a slice of toast wasn't such a good idea this morning. My stomach was grumbling and I was fairly confident Bella and I had the same lunch hour. From what she had told me the night before, Juniors and Seniors had lunch together then the freshman and sophomores went. That also meant the Cullens would be there, I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or not. It wasn't normal to be this interested in someone you'd only said a handful of words to. I didn't even know if he was single, or straight for that matter.

Lunch finally rolled around, much to my stomach's delight. I wandered back to the main building and met up with Bella. She had a small gaggle of others around her, I'm assuming they were her friends. I recognized the asian boy from earlier that day, he was talking animatedly to a girl with glasses and a pretty maroon shirt. Then was a blonde boy in a letterman's jacket with a brunette who was trying to drag his attention away from Bella and myself.

"Ayy! Another new girl! You from Arizona too? I'm Mike Newton by the way" The blonde boy teased as he introduced himself. The asian boy seeming to hone in on Mike getting more attention and inserted himself into the conversation too.

"Nah haven't you heard my home girl's accent? Sage here is from down south! Eric, nice to meet you" He beamed at me while holding out his hand. I pretended not to notice it and gave him a simple nod before turning to the lunch line. I was far more interested in getting some food than meeting hyperactive teen boys fighting for attention, Bella followed behind me. I grabbed a chicken salad with a water bottle. Bella just grabbed a lemonade which I frowned at her for, she shrugged and passed the food. I paid for my meal and followed Bella to a table near the center of the cafeteria.

"It looks like you're the new toy now, Bella's last week's new girl" the brunette girl that had been hanging onto Mike said as she sat down. I was pretty sure she was trying to make a joke but it felt slightly hostile to me with her jealousy tinging the words.

"Well I'm sure it'll pass too." Bella responded uneasily seeing the scowl forming on my face. Just as things were getting tense, the Cullens showed up. Bella nudged me as the boy with light brown hair I had seen earlier walked in. "That's Edward."

I laughed quietly and nodded to her, "Yeah, that's the one I freaked out a little bit earlier." a small smirk was on his face as he walked through the room. Not too far behind him was Alice. I recognized her from Study Hall, her small frame almost seeming to dance through the crowd of teenagers with a simple tray that looked like it had pizza on it in her hands. Followed closely by two I hadn't seen before but based on Bella's descriptions, I assumed was Emmett and Rosalie. 'She truly is beyond beautiful, if you were into stunning blondes with perfect figures.' I thought to myself, looking down at my own body. I was still pretty confident, she was beautiful in a very blonde way. Pale skin with light eyes and golden hair with a full figure, I won in the sun tanned, dark hair and smaller features area. Emmett was massive, but his whole demeanor screamed trouble maker to me. Not in the punk-kid-vandalizing-cars kind of way, in more of the big-brother-pulling-obnoxious-pranks kind of way.

Then came Jasper. He was laughing at something Emmett had said, a perfect row of white teeth flashing in his amusement. He still had his tan jacket from earlier, but without a desk in the way I could see he was indeed tall and lean. For a moment my mind wandered to how his abs would look without a shirt, I didn't see him as a six-pack guy. More the lean stomach that was lightly toned…

Bella dragged me out of my day dreaming before it got any worse and luckily before any of the Cullens noticed I had been staring so hard at Jasper. "Sage, are you and Aunt Claire coming over tonight still?" she asked me with a raised eyebrow, she had clearly guessed the topic of my day dreaming. I had completely forgotten Charlie had wanted to do a little family get together. I hummed in agreement before (less obviously) returning to studying the fascinating family only a few tables away. Not that Bella had any room to judge, I easily noticed her sly glances at Edward.

Jasper and Alice seemed to be having an intense conversation, I couldn't tell if it was an argument or not but it seemed important. Slowly the others at their table were dragged into it as well it seemed. Edward seemed to be the only one not in the conversation. Rosalie was leaning in towards her brother, visibly angry but I couldn't tell if it was at Jasper or Alice. Emmett was across the table from Alice and had leaned in to be closer to the others, his bulk preventing me from even attempting to lip read. Things seemed to have reached a boiling point just as the bell rang to head to our next classes. I distractedly said bye to Bella before heading to my locker to drop off my extra things.

Luckily the lockers were in the main building. I made it to mine, locker 0983 and spun in the combination so I could get rid of the History and Chemistry books. When I went to shut the door, I saw a flash of tan in the corner of my eye. Of course Jasper would have a locker right on the opposite side of the hall from me. 'I'm never going to get any school work done with him everywhere I go.' I thought to myself before focusing on my schedule again. Next was English, room B13. While I was walking I saw Alice heading in the same direction.

"Hey, Alice right? I'm Sage. Could you maybe point me in the direction of room B13?" I asked once I had gathered a little courage and caught up with her.

Her honey eyes widened in surprise before she smiled happily at me. "Of course, I actually have English there next! It's nice to meet you by the way" she took my hand and lead me along the walkway. Her forwardness surprised me but at the same time it was comforting, she seemed like a little ball of sunshine. "I love your hair by the way! Is it naturally straight?" Alice asked with a smile as we reached the classroom.

"Mostly, I usually have to work on the back a bit" I responded with a grimace, thinking of all the times I woke up with a mess that could only be tamed by a hair straightener.

Luckily this teacher didn't insist on the formalities my other teachers had, she simply signed my paper and let me pick a seat. I went next to Alice, hoping to make friends with the happy girl. This class was set up with tables of 3 students at each table. I slid in next to Alice and started chatting about random things when I heard the chair on the other side of me move.

"Hey Jasper, nice of you to finally make it to class" Alice teased as I froze. The smell of worn leather and cedar flooded my senses as he sank into the chair next to me.

"I'm not even late" he complained as he set his supplies on the table. I absentmindedly noticed that his handwriting was very neat, I could see his name and some notes from another class on the pages as he flipped to an empty section of his notebook. Alice just laughed lightly to herself before getting her own books ready for class to start.

"Hello, I'm Sage. I sort of met you this morning" I awkwardly laughed. "I'm sorry about my jeep, I didn't see you there when I opened the door."

"Jasper Hale. It's really not a problem, I barely noticed." he replied. "So, where'd you move from?"

"My mother and I just came up from Fort Worth, Texas." I replied, wondering if he hadn't overheard me talking to Mandy this morning after all.

"What made you move so far Sage?" Alice chimed in.

"Well, it's a long story. We didn't exactly have a choice. We came here because my uncle Charlie lives here and my mother was always pretty close with him. My cousin, Bella goes to school here too"

"How are you liking it so far?" Jasper asked when Alice didn't say anything.

called for the start of class, cutting off the conversation. I muttered "It's not Texas, but it's not terrible" with a small smile to Jasper before focusing on my notes. English was usually easy, but I didn't want to get a reputation with the teachers on my first day.

Unfortunately for my attention span, with the size of the tables we were seated at I could practically feel Jasper's arm near mine. Even with both of our arms separated by our jackets and a few inches of space it was like I was hyper aware of him and every small movement he made. I didn't know what it was about him, I was just drawn in. It felt like the longest, and the shortest 45 minutes of my life.

By the time class was over I was a wreck, it felt like my nerves were frayed and I was mentally exhausted. Each time Jasper and I accidently bumped into each other it felt like getting hit by electricity. Also each time it occurred, I noticed Jasper getting more tense. Alice on the other hand seemed amused by something. My notes were pathetic, and of course we had an assignment at the end of it all. Luckily it wouldn't be due for another week so hopefully I could figure out everything I needed.

The bell finally rang, signaling it was time to leave but I felt frozen to my seat. I slowly gathered my things and tried to force my muscles to work. Alice had since waved goodbye to me and said she would see me later before leaving the classroom. Jasper on the other hand seemed to be hesitating, his book already in his hand as he stood near the end of the table. "Do you know where to go for your next class?" he finally spoke.

I was sure my face was flushed but I answered "Well not exactly." I peeked at my schedule. "It looks like I have math in D02 next"

He smiled, still seeming tense but it could have just been my imagination from my own stress. "Right this way milady" he said, grabbing my bag I had just put my books in and leading the way out of the class. We walked mostly in silence, we carried on with some small talk about nothing important. I honestly couldn't remember after the walk what we had talked about, I felt like I was in a daze but at the same time I noticed everything about him.

I saw the curl of his lips as he talked, the slight dimple he had on his right cheek. I noticed the slight twitch in his right hand almost as if he was stopping himself from making gestures as he spoke. I noticed the way he walked with long even strides that didn't falter. Each step was made with precision and like there was a purpose to them even though we were just walking to a class he didn't even have to attend. I noticed the way his eyes wouldn't linger on any one thing too long, like he was trying to absorb everything around him. It was fascinating I felt like I wasn't in control of myself. I had been in relationships before, I had cared about people before but this man I barely knew was making me feel like some obsessive stalker girlfriend.

We made it to the classroom where Jasper said his goodbyes politely and headed to his own class. I took my seat next to Mandy once again, nearly forgetting to have the teacher sign my slip. I managed to give her a brief wave before losing myself in my thoughts once more. Hopefully seeming like I was just paying close attention to the lesson. The rest of class passed in a daze, I was running on autopilot. What was it about Jasper Hale that was drawing me in like this? It was like I wasn't even myself.


End file.
